1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable magnetic picture recording system including a video camera and a video tape recorder, and more particularly to an arrangement for coupling and coordinating the use of the video camera and the video tape recorder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the past few years, home video tape recorders have become remarkably widespread. In particular, minimization of bulk and size recently has achieved a great advance, for example, with the availability of compact video cameras to provide a portable magnetic picture recording system capable of taking and recording images of desired objects on location or the like.
Conventional portable magnetic picture recording systems are arranged with video tape recorders and video cameras, each of which are embodied in separate forms. When in use, they must be electrically connected together with one another by a cable. For this reason, during a picture taking and recording operation, the video tape recorder and the video camera must be carried about as separate units, while they are connected to each other by the cable. This is far more inconvenient to handle and manage than the conventional 8 mm cine cameras. Particularly, since it is common practice to suspend the video tape recorder from the operator's shoulder by a belt when the video camera is in use, because of the recorder's relatively heavy weight and large bulk, the recorder is then located far away from the video camera. Therefore, it has been very difficult to control the actuation of the video tape recorder, to check the voltage of its battery, to observe the remaining supply of fresh magnetic tape, and the like. These drawbacks can be eliminated by a unitary construction of the video camera and the video tape recorder. However, the following problems then arise.
For example, such construction leads to a large increase in the overall weight of the device and, therefore, in cases where the taking and recording of pictures occurs over a long time and covers a wide range of movement on the ground, the photographer's burden is increased. In such cases, the conventional arrangement where the relatively heavy video tape recorder is borne on the shoulder by a belt, to allow only the camera to be held at eye level when shooting, is more convenient. Further, since in the present state of the art, consideration is given to allow the video tape recorder to be able to record television signals (so-called "on-air" video recording), the unused video camera must still accompany the recorder even when the on-air video recording is taking place.
Another disadvantage is that it is impossible, even for those who already own a video tape recorder, to buy a separate mating video camera, and therefore they must buy the entire camera-recorder combined systems.
It will be understood from the foregoing that the conventional portable magnetic picture recording systems cannot be operated with any choice of various working modes to best suit a given situation. Therefore, up to now, the above problems have not been satisfactorily solved.